Sanctuary (Book I)
by codebreaker
Summary: They thought they were done. It was supposed to be over. They were supposed to have gone on with their lives with all this behind them. But some things aren't meant to be left behind. Some things just like to keep coming back.
1. LIGHTSWORN

Judai was late.

He hadn't meant to be that late, hadn't meant to sleep through his alarm. Twice. Didn't anticipate running into Yugi that morning. Or he was pretty sure that was Yugi, anyway. Most of all, he hadn't anticipated having to duel one of the professors because of his tardiness. But now that he's passed the entrance exam and settled down into his dorm, he's about ready to take on the first day.

Or orientation day actually, and of course, he woke up late. Again.

"Judai. ANIKI!" Sho yelled, shaking Judai in an attempt to wake him up, "Come on, we have to get to the arena! There's gonna be a showcase duel and we're gonna miss it!"

Upon hearing that, he shot up out of bed, now wide awake.

"A what now? A duel? What, why didn't you wake me up earlier then, Sho!?" Sho groaned as Judai shot out of bed, and sprinted out, completely ignoring Sho as he exclaimed that he had been trying to for the past 10 minutes. "Come on Sho, we can't miss this!"

Sho yelled after Judai to wait up, sprinting out of the dorms after him, and toward the main building. The pair raced toward the arena, just as the pair of duelists stepped up to start. Both panting from the effort it took to make it, they made their way to the stands, finding seats next to Asuka, Hayato, and Misawa. Asuka waved as they sat down, meanwhile, Misawa gave them a nod of acknowledgment but didn't turn to look at them.

"Hey, took you guys long enough, was starting to worry that you'd miss this," Hayato said as they sat down next to him.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you two would get here." Misawa remarked from his seat next to Asuka, both of them seated in front of the trio, "You've just made it in time for the duel."

"Yeah, we almost didn't because SOMEONE wouldn't wake up." Sho quipped, glaring pointedly at Judai.

"Hey, I'm still growing, gotta get my sleep in, right? Anyway, who's dueling?" Judai asked, leaning forward to try and get a better look at the two duelists. They stood at the center, shuffling each other's decks, but they seemed more occupied by whatever conversation they were having than the duel they were supposed to be having.

"Ryo and Saiya, they're third-year Obelisk students and the best at the academy," Asuke explained.

"Ryo also happens to be my older brother," Sho adds, though he didn't seem all too excited to mention the fact.

"Oh yeah? That's awesome! He must be good then. What about her?" Judai gazes at the girl. Physically, she was fairly pretty, from what he can see of her from this distance. Shoulder length black hair and it might've been the angle, but she seemed to only come up to Ryo's shoulders height-wise.

"She's Saiya, like Asuka said. She's been friends with Ryo for as long as I can remember," Sho remarked "She's super nice. She's a really good duelist too, from what I remember."

"Huh." Judai couldn't get any other comments in before the duel officially starts.

"Should mention that apparently the two have a bit of a competition, but from what I've heard, we could hardly call it that. These two have only ever lost to each other." Asuka remarked, just as they draw their first hands.

"Really?" Judai gawked but didn't get much further than that before getting elbowed in the ribs by Sho.

"Shut up, they're starting."

The duel was close for the first several turns, and at its climax, Ryo had been able to summon Cyber End Dragon. But Saiya, using a Lightsworn deck (her favourite deck to use, Sho had commented), had been able to stop Ryo from attacking her directly using Sakuretsu Armor. That move not only stopped his attack, it also destroyed Cyber End. Now that it was her turn, she seemed to be gearing up for a duel ending play.

"And since I have 4 or more different Lightsworns in my graveyard, I get to special summon Judgement Dragon from my hand. And by sacrificing a thousand of my lifepoints, every card on the field is then destroyed. But because Realm of Light has five shine counters, I can remove two of them and it stays on the field." By this point, everyone watching was on the edge of their seat, but the winner's already been decided.

"That's impressive, not only did she summon the most powerful monster she has in her deck, she destroyed every card on the field aside from her field spell. Ryo doesn't have anything to defend himself, and she can still summon another monster since Judgement Dragon was a special summon." Misawa iterated this as soon as it all happened.

"Awesome!" Judai was nearly jumping out of his seat now, as she continued with her turn.

"You're not done yet, are you?" Ryo knew though, she wasn't. This was her favourite combo to use, after all.

"Me? Done? Nah, not yet. I'm gonna use Double Summon, which if it wasn't obvious, allows me to normal summon twice this turn. So I'm gonna start with Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn but he's not sticking around very long. I'm sending him to the graveyard to summon Celestia, Lightsworn Angel."

"Whoa! Two powerful monsters in one turn! Celestia gets a 300 point boost from Realm of Light too!" Sho marveled, getting almost as excited as Judai.

"One last thing, I'm gonna equip Lightsworn Sabre to Celestia, giving her a 700 point boost. That's two monsters now with 3000 or more attack points." Up until this point, neither duelist had been able to touch the other's lifepoints but that was about to change, "Let's start with Judgement Dragon with a direct attack! Heaven's Verdict!"

Ryo's lifepoints dropped by 3000, leaving him at 1000.

"She's gonna win this in one turn, wow!" To say Jaden was jumping up and down in excitement now would be understating it, he was like a little kid in a toy store.

"Time to finish it. Celestia! Divine Intervention!" With that, the duel ends with Saiya as the winner. She seemed to dance around a little before running up to Ryo, animatedly saying something to him. No one had been able to hear over the loud crowd. Judai, now unable to sit still, quickly suggested they go meet the two as he ran down to do so. Sho was quick to follow but not before making sure the others were coming with. By the time they all caught up to Judai, he had already made his way over to the pair. While Ryo regarded him silently, Saiya seemed to be matching him in his energy, being almost as animated.

It was when everyone realized that these two were gonna be fast friends, they all knew that this was gonna be a long year.

At least it won't be boring.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Ok first of all, hi, I'm not actually new to the site, this is just a new account. My original account is Galaxyinmyhands, but I've switched over to a new account for a new start.**

**Second of all, yes, I'm writing a GX fic. I'm down a lane, let me live.**

**Third of all, this is on AO3. So if you find it, congrats.**

**Lastly, I'm rusty, I haven't properly written like this in ages. That and the first chapter isn't really that good, this more of a starting point. A jumping pad, if you will.**

**Anyway, constructive criticism is welcome. I might upload something on Roxy later, like a profile thing if you guys want. Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you all in the next update.**


	2. VENDREAD

The rest of the year was eventful, to say the least.

Saiya would be there, watching the duel between Manjome and Judai, which ended abruptly when they heard campus security approaching. She later accompanied Judai, Sho, and Hayato to the abandoned dorms, panicked a little as Judai had a shadow duel. After that ordeal, she went to watch the duel between Judai and Ryo on the beach, noting that Ryo had already won the duel before it started. She had praised Judai though, she saw that he was a good duelist and she was sure he could only get better. She would then go and watch Judai and Sho duel the Paradox brothers. She had told Ryo and Asuka that she already knew that Sho and Judai are gonna win because her instincts told her so and her instincts were usually right.

They went up against the Shadow Riders, and even though Saiya herself would not duel any of them. She, instead, would watch each and every one of them. There was no doubt in her mind that they would come out of that on top.

To end off the year with anything less than a legendary match would be a major disappointment. The graduation match between Ryo and Judai was something to behold. After Judai found his stride, it was one breath-stopping play after another. However, the loud cheers after the duel ended in a draw couldn't come anywhere close to what Ryo and Saiya would come to experience in the few months. They shared a waiting room for this particular tournament, the biggest one they've entered since entering the Pro Circuit. All eyes were on this next match, both of them had entered through different brackets, and by chance, Edo Pheonix was in a bracket separate to theirs.

And it felt like the entire world was watching this next match. The match was between Ryo and Edo and whoever won this match would go on to duel Saiya.

"Are you nervous?" She had asked him, watching him shuffle through his deck. "Because you're starting to make _me_ nervous."

He cracked a smile at her but he didn't look up at her, eyes fixed on the space in front of him.

"No. I'm not." She wanted to laugh, but she didn't. She wasn't lying when she said he was making her nervous. Something about the energy in the room put her on edge.

"Yes, you are." She paused, watching him shift his gaze up to meet her eyes. "You're also a terrible liar, by the way."

He rolled his eyes, scoffing as he leaned back into the couch. The look he gave her was one she'd seen plenty of times, his eyes dark in the fluorescent lights. She stared, their eye contact intense, all the while she tried to piece together anything to say to him. Distracted was the best word to describe her thought process; staring into his eyes, she could only equate this to watching storm clouds roll in, Saiya could only wait for the flash of lightning, for the roll of thunder. She blinked a few times, stretching as she leaned back; a desperate attempt to reign her thoughts back in from the train wreck she found them in, and she could only hope he didn't pick up on it. But she knew he did, he always did.

"Ease up a little. I know Edo said he's using a new deck from here, but it's nothing you can't handle, right?" She started, knowing full well this was not actually what she had in mind but she kept going anyway. "Seems like making a point to never use the same deck twice in a row in our duels together paid off, yeah?"

He took a deep breath before nodding. There was a brief moment of silence, and in that silence, she could see the gears working behind his eyes. He wanted to say something but a knock at the door interrupted them. It was time to go. Their eyes met, and in the instant their eyes locked, he looked more confident than he had been the entire time they'd been sitting there.

"Good luck." She watched him as he made his way towards the door. He stopped before throwing a remark over his shoulder. Saiya didn't need to see his face to know he was smirking.

"I won't need it."

And with that, she was suddenly alone.

* * *

Of course, neither of them were actually all too surprised when Ryo lost. Saiya didn't say this out loud (why would she? She thought of herself as a better friend than that).

It was her turn, now. She stared at the table in front of her, several decks laid out. The first biggest tournament in their career and people are already whispering about her. Her point of never using the same deck twice in a row had carried over from her little competition with Ryo. Her attention had been so focused on the five decks she had laid out in front of her, she nearly jumped six feet in the air when the door swung open. Saiya didn't need to look up to know the Kaiser himself had walked in, and she definitely did not need to look to know that he didn't look happy.

She wouldn't either, knowing what just happened.

His presence from the other side of the table was noted, as was the silence they shared. Too many silent moments passed before either of them finally said something.

"Are you gonna stare at those until your match?" He sounded as pissed as she thought he would be. Saiya didn't look at him, she didn't need to.

"Still trying to decide. They're all fighting, it's funny." She responded, her tone slightly clipped. She, much like Judai, was able to see and hear duel monster spirits. Her own cards were always the loudest, though she can feel the frustration flooding from Ryo's deck right now. Saiya finally glanced up at him, caught him staring at her though she couldn't be sure if he was actually staring at her or if he was staring past her. When she spoke up again, her voice was much quieter, her tone much softer. "Are you alright?"

In all the time she knew him, Saiya couldn't quite remember the last time he wore this expression. In fact, she had a hard time pinpointing just what she saw as she watched him. There was an anger that came off of him in waves, but there was this look in his eyes; a sort of lost look. A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back into the couch, head tilted upwards. Staring at the speckled ceiling, she struggled to form the right words to say to him.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, alright? We both knew that Edo's a tough opponent, and he was using a new deck, no less. He's been doing this forever." She almost flinched under his glare. Almost. She knew that glare wasn't really for her. His glare was scary though, enough to make most people wither. Something must have shown on her face because his expression softened if only just a little. "Would it make you feel better if I beat him?"

Ryo snorted, finally cracking a smile. It didn't reach his eyes but he looked amused enough. She took it.

"Your confidence is admirable." He got a grin in response.

"Having enough confidence is half the battle, my dear Kaiser. The other half is actually doing the damn thing." A knock at the door yet again interrupted their conversation, but she didn't mind. They shared a look before glancing down at the decks laid out on the table. Five minutes, the person at the door had called to them. "Five minutes to decide which deck I'm using."

"How confident are you?"

Four minutes.

"Not nearly enough to win."

They locked eyes again, and she could only hope he caught the mischievous glint she had in hers.

"Well, if you think you aren't gonna win, you might as well put on a show."

Three minutes. She grabbed a deck off the table at random, the grin she threw at him was something playful.

"It's always a show when I'm in the spotlight."

Two minutes before she had to be at the stand. Striding towards the door with a great deal of confidence, she caught Ryo wish her good luck as she swung open the door. A pause. She spun on her heel and made her way back to him.

"How 'bout instead of just wishing me good luck," She stopped right in front of him, leaning over. Their faces now close enough that their noses could almost touch. "-how about you give me a kiss for good luck?"

The look of surprise was enough of a reaction to elicit giggles from her. Regardless of his shock, his expression melted from one of surprise to one of confidence, the kind she knew so well.

One more minute.

They kissed.

* * *

The lights dimmed, the smoke from the fog machine billowed around her feet as she made her way up to the arena. The first biggest tournament of her career and the crowds already whispered several nicknames for her. 'Lady Athena' was one that came up frequently, and she took it. If everyone thought she was some kind of genius, she'll take it and run with it. 'The Unpredictable' was another that came up lots over the course of this tournament, 'Lady Chaos' was a rare one that she personally adored.

But that wasn't the point here.

Edo and Saiya met in the middle of the arena, the spotlight now on them as they switched decks. The way he eyed her was not missed.

"Hopefully," He started, his voice steady and full of confidence. Just as she'd imagined. "you'll be more of a challenge than your friend."

They finished shuffling, and as they handed their decks back to the other, she threw him a grin. The mischievous sparkle in her eyes returned, the tone of her voice matched it. She didn't miss the split second of confusion on his face.

"If it's a challenge you want, it's a challenge you will get." With an amused laugh, she spun on her heel and made her way to her side, carrying with her all the confidence in the world.

"Whatever." Once they got to their places, she announced that she was going second. There was no arguing against it. Edo had set up his first turn much like he did during his duel with Ryo.

"I end my turn. Go, I'm expecting to be impressed." As dramatically as she could without being overly theatrical about it, she drew a card. Nobody could miss the smirk that graced her features. Looking at her hand, she was more than satisfied with the plays she could make. Saiya was almost sure this wasn't going to be duel winning but at the very least, she'd make it as entertaining as possible.

"Just so you know, if you win this duel, it'll only be because I purposefully threw the duel." She had declared with all the confidence in the world. This got the crowd going. "How about we start with a ritual?"

Once Vendread Origin was played, Vendread Revenants, Vendread Houndhorde, along with Vendread Core all got sent to the graveyard to make way for a more powerful monster.

"Are you ready for this? Now that those three monsters are in my graveyard, I can ritual summon Revendread Executioner. However, he takes on the mantle of Revendread Slayer while out on the field." The fiendish monster flew up from the card, a deep chuckling as he finally got the spotlight. "I'm gonna play Vendread Nightmares, while I'm at it."

_'So you finally let us out of the cage, huh?' _Executioner's voice was a deep rumble, it echoed and bounced throughout the arena. However, it seemed like only she can hear him. The smirk she gave him was more than enough for an answer.

"Now, with Vendread Nightmare in play, every time one of my Vendread monster destroys your monster in battle, that Vendread monster gains 1000 attack points. I could also tribute a monster to increase the level of a monster I control, but that isn't important right now."

After this, the duel was close. Nearing the end, the two were about 500 life points apart. Edo had managed to summon Pheonix Enforcer. Saiya had quickly noted he was using the exact same deck he used against Ryo, but something in her gut told her said this wasn't his main deck. On her side of the field, she had summoned Executioner back from the graveyard, as it had been destroyed earlier on in the duel. By his side was Revendread Slayer, ritual summoned the turn previous. Neither of them had any remaining spell or trap cards.

She could win. Well, she _could_ if it were her turn.

He played a facedown, then ended his turn. There was a silence that filled the air after he did, but the silence came with an unspoken challenge. One she would gladly accept. She wasn't sure she could win, actually.

But she had promised a show, so that's exactly what she planned on doing. Or at least, she'd try to anyway.

"It's too bad I can't be flashy with this deck. I guess summoning Executioner on my first turn was a little flashy. . . " she trailed off, but the confident expression she wore told a different story. The card she drew would be more than enough to win the duel. "I'm gonna summon Vendread Revenants in attack position, and set two cards facedown. Your go."

Revenants, her third and final copy in this deck, had been in her hand for about two or three turns now. She didn't miss the perplexed look Edo threw her, she was sure the cameras missed it though. Her two facedowns was the only thing she could ride on now, so if this failed, she'd lose the duel. But Saiya didn't particularly care if she lost this duel specifically. In her eyes, the exposure was enough, this particular win didn't matter nearly as much.

He took it. After summoning Shining Pheonix Enforcer, he attacked Slayer. She grinned, flipping over Enemy Controller. He countered with Magic Jammer, she countered that with Counter Counter. And that was game, she tributed Revenants to take control of Shining Pheonix Enforcer. That would not last, however, he regained control at the end of his turn but not before placing a facedown card. It was the only thing that worried her but she wasn't about to sit around and do nothing.

"If you're gonna end this, make it quick. I'm getting tired of that confident look you got going on right now." She laughed as she drew a card. He didn't have any face downs. Her only obstacle right now was the 1500 extra attack points Shining Pheonix Enforcer had. But it was fine, the card she just drew was more than enough to help her.

"I'm equipping United We Stand to Exectioner, giving him an extra 800 attack and defense points for every monster on my side of the field. I count three, so that adds up to about 2400 extra points." The crowd was deafening, and she loved every second of it. "That facedown is probably gonna screw up my game, isn't it? You're good, Edo. I'm about to walk right into your trap, aren't I?"

He smirked, annoyingly so. But she matched it, and if she were anyone else, she might have been annoyed. She was enjoying this far too much to be annoyed. Saiya knew full well she was about to walk right into his trap with her attack, but she didn't mind. Not one bit.

"You tell me, are you about to walk into my trap?"

Seconds passed.

"Executioner, end it."

The duel ended, but it didn't end in her victory. That facedown was, in fact, Magical Cylinders. Executioners attack was redirected right back at them. But she took the loss in stride as they met in the middle again.

"Remember when I said that if you won, it would only be because I purposefully threw the duel? I definitely threw the duel so don't think you can get too confident about this win." They shared a look, one that promised a rematch.

"Sure, you keep tellin' yourself that." The way he said that told her more than enough, he had just as much fun as she did.

"I'm fully expecting a rematch, Edo Pheonix."

No one heard them over the roar of the crowd but they did not mind. Not one bit.

"Saiya Akatsuya, I would be more than happy to have a rematch with you."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Uh, so it's been, what? Nearly 5 or 6 months since the last update?

I can explain, I swear.

First off, I had a hard time finding my footing for this chapter. I debated continuing on with writing through season 1, but honestly, I felt like I couldn't be bothered. Thinking about it, I realized Saiya didn't play too big a role in season 1, not a big enough role to write about. So I skipped through most of it.

Second off, yes, I switched over the names for this one too. I'm pretty sure I've caught all the instances but there might be a few I missed.

Third off, yes, they kissed. In chapter 2. Listen, I'm impatient, there was an opportunity and I took it. I had to, it was too good to pass up.

Fourth of all, Edo and Saiya getting along? For now. They'll argue a lot more once they start getting closer.

Fifth of all! I debated on having Saiya win this duel. However, since she won against Ryo in the first chapter, I figured I'd balance her win/loss ratio a bit with her first duel against Edo result in a loss.

And FINALLY, the deck Saiya used in this duel was a Vendread deck, an archetype that's specific to Duel Links. In case this is confusing for anyone (I really hope it isn't but I'm gonna explain anyway), it was mentioned in this chapter but to clarify, Lightsworns are her main but she opts to switch up her deck every now and again. Moreso during tournaments, and against Ryo. Just to keep her opponents on their toes, ya know.

Anyway, all that aside, I hope you enjoyed.

Until next time.


	3. DESTINY HERO

The last thing Saiya had expected was for the headmaster to ask her to come back to Duel Academy. Minutes after stepping onto the island, she instantly recognized at least one of the two voices she heard. A quiet laugh found its way out of her lips as she approached the quartet, camped in front of the Slifer dorm. At least two of them were new to her, and one of the new faces was arguing with Sho.

It took a total of thirty seconds for one of them to notice her spectating the argument.

"Saiya! Tell Kenzan that _I'm_ Judai's best friend!" Sho cried, nearly toppling them both over as he tackled her with a hug. She laughed, wrapping her arms around the shorter boy.

"Well, first of all, we haven't been properly introduced, I'd rather not pick a fight with someone I just met about a minute ago." She made absolutely no move to push Sho off of her, "Second of all, I just got here. I have no energy to be picking sides for anything right now."

"Tyranno Kenzan. Now you've been introduced! Take my side!" Sho whined as he backed up. He gave her that puppy look, knowing there was a good chance it would actually work. She gave him a look of disbelief, silently asking if he really heard a word she just said.

"Actually, I have a question, and no offense cuz I missed you and all, but why are you back?" Judai asked, interrupting Sho as he pouted at the other boy. Saiya hummed, rocking on her feet a little.

"Well, principal Samejima actually asked me to come back. He said something about assisting with stuff, he wasn't really all too specific on the details." Glancing past the two boys, she took note of the fourth member of their little quartet, wearing a yellow jacket. A Ra, much quieter than the other three boys he had chosen to hang out with.

"And you are-?" A nod towards him snapped his attention towards her, his eyes wide. Behind him, she caught a figure, a flash of white and gold. A very familiar figure.

"Uh, Kohaku. Ra yellow." He stopped before stammering nervously "B-but I'm sure you know that already."

"And I take it you have a fairy based deck, judging by Airknight Parshath hanging out behind you." The boys went silent as she said this. All four stared at her, wide-eyed and very confused. Saiya, on the other hand, was very amused, she enjoyed the confusion she could induce in the boys.

"Wha-, yeah. I do. But you can-?" Kohaku started, glancing over his shoulder. Judging by his expression, only she could see the fairy type monster staring back at her.

"Wait, wait. You can-?" Judai interrupted but she promptly cut him off, knowing what he was about to ask her.

"Yes. I can see duel spirits, like Kuriboh floating behind your head right now, thinking I can't see him." This made him spin around, nearly swatting the little fluffball out of the air. "And before you ask, because I know one of you will, I've been able to since I was about ten. Why is that so surprising? It's not like I'm the only one anyway."

That statement was met with equal parts confusion and loud noises, namely in the form of questions. The boys had continued to grill her for a while, though they didn't get many useful answers out of the girl. The conversation (re: interrogation) was cut short when Fubuki caught her in a back hug, putting on his usual theatrics as he greeted her.

"You're back and _I_ was not the first person to greet you?" He moved to her side, though his arm remained around her shoulders. His smile and his energy were infectious because she found herself easily grinning at his usual antics. "It appears I've failed my job."

"Your . . . job? What would that be exactly?" There was no mistaking the confused look she threw his way, as well as the elbow in his ribs. It certainly did not stop him though, it never did.

"Yes, being your best friend. Obviously. Keep up."

This interaction did not last long. Sho, being ever so frustrated and the pout still going, suddenly perked up as if he remembered something. He all but jumped his way in front of her, nearly frantic as he waved his arms around. It was almost comical the way he looked right now. Saiya struggled to hold in laughter as she watched the boy.

"Saiya! How much have you talked to my brother since the last tournament? Is he doing alright?" The sudden barrage of questions threw her off guard a little. After composing herself, the look she gave them must've looked bad because Sho suddenly looked so concerned, it almost hurt. It wouldn't surprise her if he started crying right there.

"We still talk, of course. C'mon, Sho, who do you take us for?" Just behind Sho, Judai made some off-hand comment about the two of them being inseparable. "Well, we did talk a lot more before I took off to come back here, anyw-"

Saiya cut herself off before suddenly taking out her phone, looking a little panicked as if she had just remembered something.

"That reminds me, Ryo told me to message him when I got here." There were a few comments on the reception, but she ignored them all as she rapidly typed something out. How she managed to message him out here remains a mystery to them all. The next few hours were spent with the boys all quick-firing questions at her, all ranging from what dueling pro was like to her ability to communicate with duel spirits.

"How does it work?" They all listened intently, waiting for her answer. She quietly deliberated on how to answer that question, though the answer wasn't actually all too complicated.

"I dunno _how_ it works. It just _does_. Besides-" She threw an accusatory glance over at Judai, and he only returned a sheepish grin "you're one to talk, Judai. You can do it, too"

"Yeah, but I was hoping you had some answers to a lot of unanswered questions."

The conversation from there took a few turns before Judai brought up the topic of dueling Edo. He had been at the academy before the tournament and dueled him on the beach. He then commented on the challenge that was issued by the other Hero duelist after the big tournament. Upon hearing this, she was already exhausted. Something about having to deal with the number one ranking duelist right now drained her.

Unfortunately, that time would come sooner than she'd like.

* * *

It was that night, just a little bit past midnight.

Which she found odd because why on Earth would you ever decide to arrive at an island in the middle of the ocean then proceed to kick someone's ass just past midnight?

_'You're one to talk, milady. If I'm correct, you are also up at this ridiculous hour and for what, exactly?'_ Jain had materialized next to her, flanking her as she made her way out the door. Of course, she had mumbled that thought out loud, and of course, responding would only make it seem like she was talking to herself. Not that she really cared at all.

"Ok, listen. I had trouble sleeping and decided to take a walk. Now, Edo, on the other hand, is an entirely different case altogether." She muttered under her breath, knowing that Jain could still hear her regardless. Jain's low chuckle echoed in her ears, then faded as he dissolved in a shower of sparks. A dramatic exit but she expected no less. Her monsters seem to take after her, after all.

She quietly made her way up behind him, spotting a few others (including Judai and Chronos) come from the other way.

"Oi, Edo. The fuck is with the dramatic entrance in the middle of the damn night?" There was no hiding the irritation in her voice, which could easily be chalked up to how late it was. That and she did not appreciate someone being more dramatic than her. Being flashy and dramatic was supposed to be _her_ thing. He only threw a smirk over his shoulder, his casual yet very obvious confidence he always carried around was getting on her nerves this late at night. Apparently, she was more irritable this late at night.

"Didn't realize that was the problem. If anything, the problem is this idiot right here and it appears I've resolved said problem."

There was no doubt he caught her glare, it didn't make her feel much better when he seemed totally unbothered by it. He had met her glare, his gaze even. Under the moonlight, and from this distance, she couldn't help but notice how his eyes seemed to glow silver. Half a second later, his voice snapped her back to reality.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch something." His voice was low as he turned to leave. She was left staring at his back, her glare not once dropping as he disappeared into the night.

Half asleep, she almost missed the wings of Dogma unfolding. But she was left confused, trying to figure out just what it meant. It was like he was being protective of the duelist who wielded him, anyone else might have interpreted it that way.

But to her, it almost looked like a wave in greeting.

* * *

The presence of both Saiya and Edo at the academy generated a lot of talking in the halls, both during and between classes, and especially so after classes. Despite her best efforts, avoiding him was near impossible. If anything, it felt like he made a point just to always be in her general vicinity.

And of course, finding out that he had intended on dueling Judai later that day didn't make matters any better. In fact, she got tasked with showing him to the duel arena. She didn't need to, however, as he had quickly revealed he already knew where it was. At the moment, she outpaced him but only because she had made a point to try and walk faster than him. Not that it was too difficult, Edo sure knew how to take his time.

"Your little mission of trying to avoid me appears to be failing, princess."

She stopped dead in her tracks, which consequently, caused him to walk into her.

"Don't call me that." She hissed, bumping into him again as she spun around to face him.

"Ah. What's with the hostility? Can't tell if you're just irritable today or if I actually did something to piss you off."

Knowing full well this was entirely on her being more irritable than usual, she chose not to respond. Instead, she groaned quietly, turning to continue down the corridor. The halls were mostly empty now, making it much easier to avoid getting crowded.

A barking laugh drew her attention down to her side. She spotted Ryko, trotting alongside her. The wolf-like beast had a glint in his eyes, and his lips curled into a smile.

'_His confidence outpaces yours, I must admit. I admire him for being able to achieve that feat._' Ryko's voice was rough, held an edge to it and yet, the way he spoke to her held none of the biting tones he usually used. '_He hasn't done anything to warrant your anger, however, pup. Reign in that temper before it burns you, too._'

She huffed in annoyance, knowing that he was right. Saiya's pride prevented her from admitting that though. Once in the stadium, she picked her way over to the others, finding a seat next to Fubuki. Without any hesitation, he reached over and draped an arm over her shoulders. She made no move to push him off. And Sho wasted no time turning in his seat, still curious about her connection to duel monster spirits.

"So can you, like, have full conversations with them? Ooh, can you pull them out of their cards or something?"

She snorted, listening to him rattle off questions she couldn't fully answer. Ryko had chosen to stick around, finding a spot at her feet despite having little to no room there. It was a good thing he was only a spirit with no solid form. Once Sho finished talking, she leaned forward to respond.

"Yes, we have full conversations. No, I cannot pull them out of their cards, and yes, I can see and converse with everyone else's. Are you satisfied now?"

He hummed, not immediately turning around. That earned a glare, which he immediately understood to mean he should stop pressing. That did not, however, stop him from asking one more question.

"What triggered it?" She narrowed her eyes, slightly in annoyance but mostly in confusion. If there was a trigger to this ability, she sure was not aware of it.

"I'm not sure. All I can tell you is that I've only been aware of it after Ryo gave me Judgement Dragon."

Fubuki piped up, an easy yet knowing smile had found its way to his face. His arm hadn't moved from its spot around her shoulders.

"Kaiser was the one who gave you your ace monster, huh? Figures."

She remembered it clearly, it was after he had been gone for an extended period of time. Saiya had missed him a lot and spent a lot of that time being ridiculously moody and irritable.

"Yeah, said it was because he had missed my birthday and wanted to make up for it."

'_Hush, the duel's starting._' Ryko growled from his spot on the floor. How he knew was beyond her, perhaps it was a connection with the other duel monsters spirits. Or maybe he just had better hearing and a better attention span than they did.

* * *

Saiya couldn't be surprised when Edo won the duel, his win streak remained unbroken. Afterward, she noted how distressed Judai had looked. Unfortunately, he had disappeared before she got the chance to confront him.

"Hey, you guys know where he ran off to?" Asuka asked as she peered into the room, glancing around.

"Dunno, he ran off a little while ago. You just missed him." Sho gestured towards the door, looking very concerned for his friend.

_'What's it with losing to Edo then disappearing?'_ She had wondered.

"I'm leaving, I have things to do." She announced before darting out of the room. Something about being in there suddenly felt suffocating. This concerned her more than she would allow herself to admit. Ryo hadn't responded to many of her messages since losing to Edo, and the few times he had responded, his replies were kept short and his tone was clipped. She could only hope Judai would come back to them.

And perhaps when he did, this heavy, sinking feeling in her gut would go away.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Ah yes, two updates within 24 hours of each other.**

**I can only imagine that Saiya doesn't see much action in the way of duels until season three, but season two is fairly important in terms of relationship development so it'll only feel like it's dragging from her perspective.**

**(Saiya and Edo's dynamic is my favourite thing to write by the way)**

**Until next time!**


	4. ARCHFIEND

It was difficult to fall asleep that night.

Everything was stressing her out, Judai being missing for the past few days, Ryo not answering any of her recent messages. And on top of all that, Edo would not leave her alone. But tonight, for once in the past week he'd been here, she was grateful for his presence. She couldn't be sure if he just had a really good intuition or if he had intended on knocking on her window at some ungodly hour anyway.

The clock on her bedside table read 2:45 A.M, almost mocking her inability to sleep.

"Do I wanna know why you're knocking on my window at nearly 3 in the damn morning?" She kept her voice to a whisper, turning to gaze at him. He was little more than a shadow now, standing in the corner next to the window. If she hadn't known it was him, she'd have thrown the alarm clock at him by now.

"Dunno, something told me you needed the company." A few quiet chirps, sounding oddly like Rinyan giggling, sounded from her deck. She glanced over at it, sitting next to the clock. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, she turned back to him.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep she had been getting, but the shadows around him seemed to warp and move. It took shape behind him. Somehow, it didn't freak her out as much as she figured it should, the form vaguely took the shape of a familiar Hero. It was difficult to make out which one of Edo's Heroes it could be, seeing as any distinguishing features were hidden from sight, masked out by the shadows that blanketed them.

"Well, the company would be nice, maybe. Yours? We can debate whether your company is welcome." There was no edge to her voice, no bite. She much too tired to be any bit annoyed, but if she were being completely honest, she wasn't annoyed at all. She wasn't about to be completely honest with him at 3 in the morning though.

He stepped forward, back into the light of the moon.

"You let me in, didn't you?" The question was met with silence. "That's what I thought."

He made his way over and sat next to her. They didn't say a word for a few minutes, then he spoke up again. His voice was quiet and calm, a stark contrast to the turbulence she had been feeling for the past few days.

"You wanna talk about it?" She wasn't sure how he knew she needed to talk about anything. Maybe it had been ridiculously obvious, she was always one to wear her heart on her sleeve. But maybe he was just good at reading people. It could be some combination of either, she supposed.

"Maybe not **_it_** specifically." She paused, looking at him. He was a bit of a puzzle, wasn't he? "Whatever _it_ is, I guess."

"So let's talk about anything else." Movement caught her eye, something in her peripherals. But it was gone as fast as it had been there. It was a wing or that's what she thought she had seen.

"And why would I talk about anything else with you of all people? We barely know each other and we met through a tournament, and you showed up here like no more than four days ago."

"I suppose you're right."

Sitting up, she studied him. Something about seeing him up close like this felt strange, a sort of surreal type of strange. She caught the sight of what looked like a scar poking past his collar, disappearing along what she could only guess to be his shoulder. She shifted, now laying on her side, propped up on her elbow.

"But something tells me you aren't planning on leaving until you get at least one story out of me."

From this angle, she knew the look he had on. His trademark smirk and a sort of mischief in his eyes. A snicker sounded, though it came from neither of them. It echoed from elsewhere in the room. She looked up, past him and saw Wulf standing by the window.

_'I've seen that look somewhere.'_ Wulf's voice was rough, much in the same way Ryko's was. It was deeper though, rumbling. It held more power. _'In fact, I think I've seen that same look in your eyes before, runt.'_

She half-heartedly glared in his general direction.

"Hey, play a game with me," he muttered, surprising her. She hadn't realized how close he had gotten. Now, laying in bed next to her (don't worry, he had taken off his shoes upon entering the room), she could easily pick out the little details she hadn't noticed before. The way his eyes faded to grey as it got closer to the pupils, the way-

His voice interrupted her thoughts, the expression he wore was one of curiosity.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" The way she stammered through a half-assed answer was all he needed. He waved, almost dismissively. "Forget it, answer my question."

"It was hardly a question." She deadpanned, rolling over onto her back. "But fine, whatever. Let's go, then."

"Alright, since it is just past 3 am now, let's keep it quiet and simple, yeah?" He didn't wait for her response. Not that he needed to, she would've agreed anyway. "We'll take turns asking each other anything, and the other has to answer as honestly as possible."

"And if you're caught lying?"

He shrugged, nonchalant. "Well, be a good liar then. What the other person doesn't know won't hurt them."

She laughed, silently agreeing before rolling over onto her side. "Fine, you start."

"Hm, how bout we start easy? Favourite colour?" They faced each other now, voices just above a whisper. Time felt like it slowed down, the feeling of being up this late held a certain kind of magic. The quiet that it held, especially when shared with another soul. It was surreal, the world outside this room could've stood still for all they cared. These fleeting moments in the night were theirs and theirs only.

"Blue." Her answer was immediate, as was her question. "If you could be anything other than human for a day, what would you be?"

He snorted at the question, thinking about it for a second. Saiya noted the way his eyes narrowed slightly, a slight pout while he was thinking.

"Think I wouldn't mind being a dragon for a while." An amused feeling bubbled in her chest, ready to burst as a fit of giggles.

"I'm glad you didn't say phoenix, I would've kicked you out immediately if you said that." This brought on laughter out of both of them, both trying hard to stifle it in fear of waking someone else up, and getting caught awake, in the same room together.

"Yeah, I figured I'd avoid that." There was something about tonight that subdued their usual annoyance and teasing in each other's presence. The mood was much lighter, in contrast with the darkness that blanketed them in the dead of night, with their only light source being the touch of the moon.

"Avoid that answer or avoid me kicking you out?" He sighed out a laugh, much quieter than earlier's fit of giggles.

"Both, perhaps?" Under the watchful moon, they caught each other's eyes again, none of the hostility and irritation from the day that came just before. "Alright, how'd you and Ryo meet?"

A quiet sigh escaped through her lips just before she bit down on her bottom lip, a tell that she was focused on trying to remember something from over a decade prior.

"I can hardly remember, it feels like we've known each other forever. Think it might have had something to do with grade school bullies. I can vaguely remember him stepping in, think he was trying to stand up for me. Don't think he needed to though, I kinda remember challenging them to a fight." She smiled, recalling these memories despite them being rather fuzzy. "I'm pretty sure they were at least twice my size."

"I wouldn't put it past you to challenge someone at least twice your size to a _fistfight_ now." He remarked, earning her smacking his arm.

"I heard you and Judai dueled out on the beach just before our tournament, who won that?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, but his expression quickly went neutral again as he remembered just how close the two were.

"He won, but only because I threw the duel. Much like you did ours, apparently." His tone was accusatory but only in teasing, the slight smile that accompanied was all she needed to confirm. "Biggest fear, go."

She had to think about that one. The list of things that scared her was short. In fact, it was about three items long. Spiders, wasps, and clowns. But neither felt like they were the right answer to this question. Her answer would come to be much more existential, perhaps.

"Biggest fear, huh? Loneliness, I think. Isolation." She paused, before adding on to that thought "Or maybe losing someone I love. The thought of either scares me more than the other three things I have on my list."

The look he gave her was somewhere between confusion and understanding. There was something in his eyes, an emotion she could only catch glimpses of. But in the dark, she could not clearly identify what she could see reflecting back at her. A sense of understanding perhaps, one that ran deeper than she could ever realize. Maybe it was more than that, something she could only see in shattered pieces, in flashes.

They would go on like that for about 3 more hours, neither falling asleep until about 6 am. By the time they did, they had gone through at least a dozen questions, some more ridiculous than others. When they had decided to call it quits, they finally decided it was time to crash. He didn't even bother to leave her room, announcing that he was too exhausted to.

Perhaps Saiya was not the only one who needed some company that night.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

A little on the shorter end, but a little insight into the start of their late-night antics.

**_(Reuploaded for note edit):_** ALSO I FORGOT COMPLETELY. AHEM, how do we feel about a fantasy au? Because I MAY or MAY NOT be working one right now.

**_(Reupload edit #2):_** Should mention that I've also added pinterest boards and playlists for both Saiya and Ryo on my profile. Will get around to adding Edo's and Fubuki's once I get them up and going. I'll be adding to them frequently once I get all four up.

Until next time!


	5. CYBERDARKNESS

_Golden child, lion boy; tell me what it's like to **conquer**_

* * *

Perhaps staying up all night then waking up just past five pm was not the best idea they've ever had. But to say that either Saiya or Edo was good at making good decisions was a bit of a stretch. Their best decisions were made during a duel.

However, they were not dueling. Right now, they were staring in confusion as they walked out into the main courtyard. Saiya would not notice the sharp inhale from Edo, she was much too focused on the pounding headache she was nursing. When her attention finally focused back to her immediate surroundings, Edo seemed extremely frustrated (that was putting it lightly, she supposed) and the retreating figure confused her more than anything.

"Uh, who was that?" She asked, rubbing her temples, willing this headache to go away. It must have shown in her voice, the look he gave her had more concern than she ever thought he was capable of.

"He is-, er, was, I guess? My manager." He paused, there was a guarded look in his eyes now. "And my best friend."

The tone in his voice told her everything she needed to know. It felt more familiar than she knew. The words she wanted to say never came, they no longer felt right. So, they remained on her tongue, locked away and never to fall past her lips.

"Stop looking at me like that, it's fine."

'Ah, yes. There he is.' She thought to herself, smiling a little. The rest of their day consisted mostly of hanging around campus, seeing as they had slept through most of the day. The mood between the two of them was something a little quieter, pensive. For her, however, any sense of calm she may have had that day was going to be shattered very soon.

* * *

If you asked if there was anyone Saiya could say stressed her out, she'd be able to give you a list ranking just who stressed her out the most. Ryo would top the list at number one. Not even Judai or Edo could stress her out quite this much, an accomplishment she'd have to say.

When he finally got around to replying to her, it was to meet up with her. The first time they'll have seen each other in nearly three weeks. When they finally did meet up, there was something off. It wasn't outwardly obvious, and if it was, that wasn't what caught her attention first. He was much harder to read now, felt much more guarded. It was throwing her off. A lot.

"You didn't call me out here just to talk, did you?" Her words would be met with silence. It was a subtle gesture he had given her, which made her glad she was as observant as she was. There was no way she would've caught it otherwise. She followed him, as she always had. As she always would.

"Actually, I did."

He would not elaborate on that any further, and if he really had wanted to talk to her, he was sure doing a terrible job of doing the actual talking. This truly nailed in the fact no one else she knew stressed her out more than her childhood best friend. Not one person she knew.

"So, are you gonna tell me what you wanted to talk about or did you think I developed telepathy overnight? Because I can confirm right now, I do not, in fact, possess any sort of telepathic abilities." This didn't earn her any explanation, nor did it earn any obvious reaction. Needless to say, she was exhausted.

However, even though he was much harder to read now than he used to be, she could pick up the slightest bit of conflict in his eyes. It was gone as soon as she picked up on it.

"I need your help with something."

Of course, she readily agreed. This would be the last time he'd ask for her help for anything for a long time.

* * *

"Now, I don't know what the fuck you got yourself into and I honestly hope you don't intend on dragging me into whatever mess you got involved in." She had told him. Ryo hadn't said a word on what he had been up to, never hinted at anything regarding why he ignored all of her messages that week. It was just one of those things, she supposed. A kind of intuition you develop when you're as close as they are.

Whatever it was he got himself into, he wasn't telling her because they both knew she wouldn't hesitate to yell at him, and then proceed to be the one to ignore him for almost three weeks. At least, that's what she told herself. Whether that was actually the truth was beyond her. Surely, he knew better than to get himself into more trouble than he can handle, right?

Right?

They had made a few stops, some of which were seriously sketchy. On her own, these were likely the last places she'd willingly show up to. The entire time, he never told her what he needed her help with. For all she knew, she was there for moral support more than anything. It wasn't until it was closer to midnight that she would finally get her answers.

Their last stop took them down a back alley, which in itself was super suspicious-looking, down a set of stairs. They stopped in front of a door.

Then it all clicked into place.

"Ryo, you didn't-"

The look he gave her was more than enough to answer that. She groaned, half in disappointment, half in exasperation.

"Marufuji Ryo, not even Judai stresses me out half as much as you do." He seemingly ignored this as he went to open the door. The light from inside flooded out, as did the ambient noise of the crowd within. It was as wild and chaotic as she imagined it would be.

They exchanged glances. She knew what he was asking of her. A duel.

This could be a bad idea.

She was never good at making wise decisions.

* * *

"I cannot believe you."

"You agreed, didn't you?"

She stared at him, mouth agape. Shaking her head, she muttered something about how Edo and Ryo were more alike than they realized. It was funny, how she ended up having to deal with these two.

The duel had ended in a draw. Saiya had made a point not to use her Lightsworns, though the only other deck she had was a hastily thrown together deck that relied heavily on burn effects. Surprisingly, it hadn't cost her the duel entirely.

"So, are you gonna tell me why you haven't been responding to my messages for almost a month or am I going to have to make up some wild story in my head?" No response. Any ridiculous story she could come up with wasn't anywhere close to the shock (emotional and physical) she had gotten that night. Knowing full well he wasn't going to give her any answers, she stopped pressing. If he didn't want to tell her, he wasn't going to tell her, and she wasn't going to waste her energy trying to pry it out of him.

He was ridiculously stubborn when he wanted to be.

After they parted ways, with very little words exchanged between the two of them, she was left with an empty feeling. Watching him walk away, it was obvious something between them had shifted, it had changed.

After everything that night, she was left with the feeling that perhaps they were no longer just revolving around each other.

It's funny the way things work, isn't it?

* * *

_Fearless child, broken boy; tell me what it's like to **burn**_

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I,,,cannot for the life of me remember what exactly went down. So I am seriously just winging a lot of the plot now. We can probably expect a lot of divergence from canon from here on out. **

**Mostly because I wanted to explore what went on behind the scenes w Ryo descending to Hell Kaiser. Plus I wanted to like,,,,,,figure out Saiya's whole situation in season 2 cuz she wasn't actually there for the whole Society of Light thing. Amazing how that worked out, huh.**

**ALSO, update**

**The Yugioh GX fantasy au is up, titled Fires of Liberation! **

**God, I love fantasy aus.**


	6. TWILIGHTSWORN

Several missed calls and one more sleepless night revealed that Saiya would not plan on going back to Duel Academy Island for a while. While she may have wanted to, her schedule had taken a sudden shift. Another tournament was taking place over the coming weekend and she would need to take part in the preliminaries to get in. Her new manager, Vera, had called her late the night before to tell her. Saiya was glad Vera had good enough timing to at least call after she and Ryo went their separate ways.

The screen in front of her told of an opponent that used zombies.

They had told her to present a persona, carefully crafted and presented to the public. Her first several interactions with the cameras would establish just what kind of persona would develop. She took a deep breath, fingers tapping the empty space on the table in front of her. Inches away laid her deck for today's match. She had planned to run an Amazoness deck today, padded out with a few other warrior type monsters.

"_Nervous?_" Ryko materialized at her feet, he had opted to lie at her feet under the table. He barely fit.

"Nah. Not really." Saiya could feel the waves of judgment coming off of Ryko the instant she responded. "I'm serious. No more nervous than I usually am before a match."

She caught the quiet sigh as he slid out from his spot. The look in his eyes was one of concern and rightfully so, she supposed.

"_Are you thinking about Kaiser again?_"

There was a pause. As she fiddled with the ring she was wearing, she couldn't answer him. But they both knew the answer to that particular question. She was, she was always thinking about him.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, I don't have time to think about it right now."

Picking up her deck from the table, Saiya didn't miss the tilt of his head as he dissipated. She couldn't afford to be distracted right now, not when she had a match in less than 5 minutes. But her thoughts did not calm as she was greeted with blinding lights and an equally deafening crowd.

* * *

The lights had shifted to varying shades of purple as she made her way onto the arena. The match itself was actually fairly easy on Saiya's part, if only because her opponent made mistakes early on in the match that would cost him the game.

Vera met her back in the waiting room, a smile on her face as she greeted her. She animatedly congratulated her as Saiya packed up her stuff. No more than five minutes later, she threw her bag over her shoulder and gave Vera a smile. Her exhaustion must have shown because the look Vera gave her was one of concern.

"Are you alright?"

Saiya inhaled sharply, blinking a few times too many. The thoughts racing through her head right now told her that she wasn't. She wasn't and the concerned look Vera had given her had reminded her of things she'd rather not think about right now. She merely just nodded in response before immediately making for the door, suddenly eager to leave, eager to get rid of this overwhelming and crushing urge to escape. Vera didn't question her further, though she didn't miss all the looks that were thrown her way.

The entire ride to the airport was spent in silence, most of which could be attributed to Saiya checking her phone every couple of minutes. It really did feel as if she was half expecting a text from someone, from _anyone_ really. There was a cold feeling that ate away at her, a heavy feeling that sat in her gut. It had taken most of her sleep out of the night prior, distracted her far more than she was willing to admit.

She wasn't going to voice any of this out loud however, the only person she would tell is the reason for these feelings in the first place.

Her next move was one she wasn't sure of anymore. Realistically, Saiya was going to be whisked off to another country, to another tournament under glaring lights that burned much too hot. A voice hovering over her shoulder no longer surprised her, having long grown used to the spirits that lived within her deck.

"You seem very stressed, darlin'." Shire floated over her shoulder, leaning against the backrest of her seat. Saiya sighed, rolling her eyes. Her stress certainly showed, and she knew they can feel it. The Lightsworn Spirit hummed happily, knowing that she had gotten enough answer just by the girl's reaction. "You should _sleep_."

Saiya knew exactly what Shire meant by that. Saiya would often dream herself into the Realm of Light, as corporeal to them as they were to her, never physical in form. The spirit did not have to tell her twice, she had been planning on sleeping on the plane ride anyway, having not been getting much the past couple of nights. Shifting into a more comfortable position, it did not take long for her to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Most of the Lightsworn had been gathered in the main plaza of the ancient ruins of Light when she arrived alongside Shire. The only one who appeared to be missing was Judgement Dragon, but Saiya was almost sure he was somewhere close by.

"I do wish you could get more sleep more often, my dear." Lyla's melodic voice carried as they approached, concern woven all throughout.

"I'm sleeping now, aren't I?" Her own voice carried a reverb, one that she had long come to associate with her dreamself. Ryko, from his spot in the shade of a half-fallen pillar, snickered. There were no arguments at her statement, fearing that she'd leave to wake up out of spite.

It wasn't long before Saiya realized they didn't truly really need her for anything, and it didn't take much longer for her to realize this was their attempt at distracting her. Far from the darkness that currently haunted her heart, the distraction was needed. The conversations that carried between the Lightsworn were tuned out as she took a seat next to Felis, the archer smiling brightly at her, her eyes sparkling with all the mischief of someone who knew no caution. It was a look Fubuki wore often back in their first year, the look he would give her as he wildly described a prank he had pulled on some poor soul in their dorm.

The sun hadn't moved since she arrived, it never does here in the Realm of Light. Instead, Saiya found herself studying the clouds that slowly drifted across the sky, their slow journey to wherever the winds took them. Some days she wished she could be like a cloud, not needing to be anywhere, not needing to worry about a thing. But the anxiety that burned in her gut that never seemed to go out felt like an ember that only grew, feeding on circumstances beyond her own control.

But right now, as Michael's voice echoed around the plaza, his voice carrying the commanding tone she had long associated with him, she suddenly felt very far away from that. The thoughts of Ryo, of everything the squad had gotten into, all the stress and anxiety, all of it suddenly didn't feel so heavy here.

Her duel spirits knew what they were doing when they asked her to come. But Saiya knew this couldn't last, this wasn't meant to last. It was a temporary fix to a lingering problem, she would wake up from this dream to reality, something that would hit her like a bag of bricks.

But for now, she enjoyed their company under the warm light of the sun, laughing along with them as Garoth would win another round of whatever the hell it was they were playing. Gragonith, sitting right behind her and Felis, chuckled as he had opted to essentially referee.

For now, Saiya allowed herself to relax for the first time in weeks.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**HAHA, you thought I wouldn't update this, didn't you?**

**Jokes on me though, I didn't think I would either. Might just skip the rest of season 2 and go to s3. Might also rewatch GX cuz I don't remember shit.**


	7. BLUE EYES

Sleep was something that constantly eluded her, slipped through her fingers as easily as water.

Time flew, it blurred together, and yet, it felt entirely like she was watching everything happen from a third-person perspective. By the time Saiya had finished making her first round in the pro circuit, she had entirely made a name for herself as the wildcard. While her strategy of never using the same deck twice in a row often kept opponents on their toes, she also made a point that she had a deck she can fall back on; her Lightsworn deck was something very few had the honor of facing off against.

By the time she had stepped foot on Academy Island again, she had faced off against Ryo at least twice in the time since they last spoke to each other. The first time they dueled in a tournament setting, she almost immediately picked apart his new dueling style; it was unsettling how much he had changed in the month and a half between their last meeting and their first duel. Saiya had put together a dragon based deck, centered mostly around swarming the field before fusion summoning something much stronger. He won that first duel.

Saiya walked out of the arena that day knowing her heart wasn't entirely in that duel to begin with.

She didn't let him win the second time around. That second duel would be the first time she used her Lightsworn deck in a professional duel.

To say she had missed dueling with him was an understatement; she missed having him around and being so readily available to duel each other to their heart's content. She missed _him_.

They wouldn't see each other again until principal Samejima asked her to come back and participate in a tournament he was holding. She obliged; any excuse to go back to see the others was a good excuse for her.

"_Ya think old man Samejima asked Kaiser to join, too?_" Gragonith's voice echoed around the room but he did not manifest from his card. He wouldn't have been able to, seeing as he likely wouldn't have fit in the room.

"I dunno, I wouldn't put it past him."

Saiya had gotten there late that evening and had managed to get by without many people noticing her. How she managed that was beyond her.

"It appears like you have company. Your friends seemed to have missed you." With a final chuckle, Gragonith's presence pulled away as Edo opened the door from her balcony and stepped in. Behind him, Judai followed right on his heels. The sight of the pair together was amusing, to say the least.

However, what had surprised her was that it was only the two, and Fubuki had, yet again, failed to be one of the first ones to greet her upon her return.

"So, you were just gonna come back and not tell anyone, huh?" Edo remarked, rather sarcastically, as he made his way over, laying down next to her. Judai sat on the edge of the bed on her other side.

"Pft, what? And ruin the surprise?" Her tone was teasing at best, "Besides, it seems like I didn't _need_ to tell you. Looks like you guys already knew."

"Well, I knew because Kuriboh told me you were back." Saiya didn't miss the confused look on Edo's face but she ultimately ignored it in favour of responding to Judai.

"See? Didn't need to tell you anything." She sat up as soon as Kuriboh appeared from over Judai's shoulder, chirping happily as if greeting her. "At least one of you is reliable."

Edo snorted, not moving from his spot. She couldn't have entirely been sure if Edo was able to see spirits the way she and Judai could, but she honestly couldn't bother to ask. Elsewhere in the room, Ryko had materialized, opting for a spot near the window. She had noticed him early on. However, her attention was elsewhere and he seemed much too occupied with his nap.

"Say, what're you back for anyway? You left in such a hurry last time and for what?"

Saiya snorted, recalling everything that had happened since she had left. Which was a whole lot of nothing worth talking about. She didn't mention Ryo but that was perhaps a conversation for another day.

"I'm back because Samejima asked me to participate in the tournament he's got planned." The confused looks the boys gave her told her that they hadn't been informed yet. "Oh, he didn't tell you yet?"

"No, but I assume he will soon if you're here now." Her eyes shifted over to Edo, watching him as he spoke. If she hadn't known any better, she'd have mistaken him to be asleep.

"He said to be here by the end of this week, so I dunno. I don't think he'd start it on a weekend either, but I suppose I wouldn't put it past him to."

There was a lull in the conversation, a pause that swept over them like a breeze. There was a tension in the air but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She knew that the boys knew, the looks they gave each other told her that much. Saiya didn't pry into what was eating at them, figuring that if they wanted her to know, they'd tell her outright.

"You talk to Kaiser much lately?"

_Inhale_.

"Not much, it's been a few months since we had a proper conversation. I dueled him once or twice recently but only in tournaments." The worried glance Judai shot her was almost heartbreaking; she knew Sho probably wanted to know and he likely asked Judai to ask her for him. "I dunno what's going on with him either; I know just about as much as anyone else does at this point."

_Exhale_.

The rest of the night went by slowly, Judai eventually left to go back to the Slifer dorms but Edo stayed with her through the night.

"I hope this isn't becoming a habit for you, Edo."

The smirk he gave her was irritating but she didn't show it. Honestly, at this point, it was a welcome routine.

"Get used to it, princess."

She scoffed, rolling over onto her side and giving him the most incredulous look she could muster.

"I hope _that_ isn't becoming a habit either."

* * *

Saiya made a point to have Fubuki be the first person she saw the next morning.

Needless to say, she was hardly surprised when he hugged her. Tightly. Almost crushing.

"You really need to step up your best friend game, Fubuki. This is the second time that you're not the first person to greet me." He all but laughed at her jab, still locking her in a much looser hug now.

"I'm workin' on it, alright? I'm rusty, give it some time."

Edo, who had walked out behind her, hadn't said a word all morning. She didn't ask why; the pensive look he had going on the whole time was almost enough to deter her from wanting to find out. She had enough stress on her plate.

But they all knew she would drop everything if any of them asked her for help. Perhaps that's why they all hesitated on telling her. The next few hours were spent wandering around campus with Edo, as the rest of the squad had classes to attend. She told Edo of all sorts of stories of while she was there; pranks with Fubuki, duels with Ryo, and all the mishaps and adventures during her last year here.

When they finally reached the lighthouse, she stopped and turned to him, a hand on her hip and a serious expression on her face.

"Now, is there something you're not telling me?"

The surprised look he had donned only lasted for a mere second before shifting to something she could only describe as the way she used to look at Fubuki when he came up with another one of his absurd plans.

"What makes you think there's anything I need to tell you? Even if I did, why would I tell you, of all people?"

She rolled her eyes, and just looked at him expectantly. Apparently that was enough; he sighed and started to tell her everything.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**aha, hi :D it's been a hot minute.**

**Okay listen, it's not like I forgot, okay? I just needed to figure out a plot and I think I have smth. I think. I hope. Maybe.**

**Anyway, yeah, update! It's been ages! **

**I'm pretty sure I have smth for the next chapter. I might not go through the whole tournament but I probably will go through with having a confrontation w Ryo at least once.**

**We'll see.**


	8. RED EYES

Saiya couldn't say she was surprised when he told her of everything that's happened since she left.

She couldn't read the look on Edo's face, but she didn't really need to. She knew all too well what it was like to feel like your closest friend is slipping right through your fingers.

Staring out to sea, they remained quiet for a while, with nothing but the sound of the ocean and each other's company.

"You think Ryo will show?"

Saiya snorted, recalling Gragonith asking her a similar question the night prior.

"Well, knowing old man Samejima, I would assume he at least got an invitation." She paused, considering the idea of seeing him again, "Who knows, he might for the challenge of it."

"You sound doubtful," Edo remarked, not missing a single beat. Her fingers tapped the concrete next to her. They had long taken to sitting on the railing, feet dangling over the edge. It brought back memories of her first year here. Fubuki had been the one who would drag Ryo and her out here, made a routine of doing it after all their classes were done.

"Things can change quickly." She heaved a sigh, bringing her hand up and threaded her fingers through her hair. She had recently cut it much shorter, now leveling at about her jaw. It had been much longer when she had graduated; about halfway down her back, if she recalled correctly.

"S'pose I can't argue with you on that."

* * *

The tournament was going to start the following Monday, which meant they had just under a week to prepare for it.

That is to say, they didn't prepare at all.

Saiya had already felt prepared enough, refusing to worry about it until the weekend, at least. She could only assume Edo, in all his confidence, felt well prepared enough already. Moreso than her, if she had to hazard a guess.

Judai was never one to plan ahead anyway and if he did, it was rarely done in-depth or in a way that he couldn't afford to deviate from it.

But she wouldn't directly hear that from either of them. Saiya knew both of them enough to come to those conclusions herself.

Currently, she sat under a tree next to Fubuki, whose company she found herself missing greatly since graduating. While they had spent most of lunch hour mindlessly chatting over recent events, she knew there was something he had wanted to avoid touching on and something told her she had an idea of what that could be. She didn't bring it up either, nor did she pry. She knew as well as the next person that if he wanted to tell her, he would on his own terms.

"You have any idea what the details on it are?"

Saiya hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation at hand, had barely even registered the fact Edo had joined them at some point. She didn't notice that Fubuki had chosen to skip his afternoon classes either. Even if she had, however, she admittedly wouldn't have made him go.

"Nah. If anyone here knows anything, I figure it would be Saiya but it looks like she isn't fully here."

She immediately took to half-heartedly flinging a pebble his way, though it fell helplessly short.

"What are you thinking about?" Fubuki had asked, a soft tone in his voice. They all knew what she had on her mind right now, but she guessed he had figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Thinking about how you decided that whatever this is was important enough to skip all your classes for." She said, throwing a raised eyebrow his way. The bewildered look he gave her in response was enough to elicit laughter.

"Hey, it's not often that I get you alone." He paused, glancing over at Edo but the expression he wore was far from accusatory, "But alas, it did not seem to last."

Despite that remark, they all knew Fubuki was amiable enough to never complain about the company of friends; Edo was welcome to join them if he pleased, there are far worse people out there that they could put energy into worrying about.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering campus, and narrowly avoiding Chronos (or at least, Fubuki had, he was the one skipping his classes for the day, after all). Fubuki had spent the better part of the afternoon with his fingers intertwined with hers. Edo had disappeared off at some point; she had asked him where he was headed to but he didn't give her much of a response.

It would be late evening when they finally made it back to the Obelisk dorm, stars twinkling above them. Security didn't stop them when they spotted them walking down the hall together, they never did anymore. As soon as they made it to his room, they fell into an easy silence. The whispers of both her cards and his were louder now that they had fallen silent, but it was ultimately background noise at this point. She had long grown used to their amiable chatter. It was comforting to know that their cards liked each other as much as their duelists did.

"I take it you haven't talked to Ryo much the last few months?"

She hummed; a negative, though from the way he kept going about his business around the room, her answer didn't surprise him at all. There was an uneasiness to him that she noticed now that they were alone again, she watched as he fumbled with something at his desk; a pen, perhaps but she couldn't be sure.

"Something's been bothering you too, huh?"

He only paused but didn't say anything to her. She already knew why; Edo had told her everything already. She didn't press.

It wasn't until much later that she wished she had.

* * *

She saw Manjome and Asuka late afternoon the next day.

Classes that afternoon were called off for reasons she didn't care much to listen to, it's not like she's a student here anymore. Fubuki had been relatively quiet the entire time, which she found to be uncharacteristic of him. But she supposed even he had his days.

When they ran into the pair, though it was more that Asuka and Manjome had found them, it hardly surprised her when Manjome tried to challenge her to a duel. She remembered Fubuki whispering warnings in her ear but they had fallen short; she had never intended on dueling him, anyway. Saiya couldn't remember the ensuing conversation very well if there was one at all. She made a point to say she didn't intend on dueling any of them any time soon, mentally noting that she would wait until the tournament to do any actual dueling.

'_I think you should've taken them up on their challenge._' Ryko snickered, falling into pace with alongside her and Fubuki. She wasn't entirely sure if he saw duel spirits like her, but he knew she could. It was no secret between them.

"Tch, save it for the tournament, Ryko." She snorted when she caught him grimacing, "Why? Didn't think you were itching for a fight that bad."

Saiya caught Fubuki snickering, a smile as he elbowed her side.

"Seems like your cards are eager for a fight."

Ryko grumbled before trotting on ahead. She laughed, mentally comparing him to a grumpy old man.

"Oh no, it's just Ryko, actually." She raised an eyebrow at the hunter, watching him sniff at things she knew he was already much too familiar with, "Maybe I should've taken Manjome up on his challenge, it would've saved me the trouble of dealing with Ryko's grumbling."

Ryko growled but it sounded more like a cough to her than anything. She largely ignored it.

"That bad?"

"No worse than dealing with Chronos, I guess."

Saiya could only be grateful that the vice-chancellor wasn't around to hear her say that.

* * *

The rest of the day was about as eventful as it could've been when they were together. Judai, Kenzan, and Sho had joined them at some point. Edo did not, though she couldn't fault him. They were all dealing with something, it seems.

Saiya sat on her bed, listening to the four of them discuss something or other; she had long stopped paying attention to their heated discussion twenty minutes ago. Her cards lay spread out in front of her, scattered in a messy array. Her Lightsworn deck had already been sorted through and was laying on the nightstand next to the bed; in front of her lay an array of various cards.

"Putting together a new deck?" Judai, having just disengaged from whatever debate the other three now took part in, was now hovering over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I think."

"You think?" Fubuki asked, now more finding this conversation much more interesting. Kenzan and Sho immediately shuffled over to look at the pile of cards on her bed.

"I dunno. I've been through a lot of decks, it's kinda hard to put anything together that I haven't done already."

Sho gingerly picked up one of the cards, inspecting it closely. It was Talaya, Princess of Cherry Blossoms from the sounds of it.

"Looks like you're good to make a plant deck, actually."

Saiya hummed, peering at the cards in front of her. Most of them were, in fact, good in a plant type deck. However, Talaya and Gigaplant were her strongest plant-type monsters, and she didn't have nearly enough support for them to make a deck she could be completely confident with. However, she really couldn't say that's ever stopped her before; a flash of a memory, something about one of her previous duels with Ryo came to mind.

"Sounds like an idea. I'll think about it."

* * *

The rest of the week passed with little difficulty on Saiya's part, she took care to avoid the Society of Light when she could. Saiyou seemed eager to talk to her, or so the others told her. She made a point to stay in her room when she wasn't hanging around with her friends. When she wasn't in her room, she wandered the island.

Saiya never really worried about getting lost. While she always claimed to lack a sense of direction, she always had an uncanny ability to wander her way back home. Friday was spent on the far side of the island, picking her way through the forest. It was a good distraction on her part, a good way to clear her head. Her cards murmured whispers of assurance. She paid them little heed, she was used to their quiet voices bouncing around in her head.

She breathed a sigh, phone in hand as she stood at an old pier that had been long abandoned. It was worn and falling apart, she could only imagine it would barely support her weight, or any weight really.

Her phone had lit up a while ago, and now she stood facing the sea but her eyes were glued to the text on her screen. It felt like her heart could either explode or stop altogether, the stillness of the forest around her seemed to impossibly stop around her.

Ryo hadn't texted her in well over two months and some odd days at this point, the timestamps said as much. She could never imagine seeing his name flash across her screen could make her heart sink; he was always full of surprises, wasn't he?

The text was short, simple enough but it hit like a bag of bricks. Saiya would not find out why until days later.

'_I need your help._'


	9. BLACK ROSE

The weekend came and went.

Saiya was sure it was fairly eventful. Fubuki refused to let her have any time to herself, though she couldn't bring herself to ever complain. Judai, Sho, and Kenzan had spent most of the weekend with them as well.

Saturday afternoon saw a few duels on campus from what she heard, not that she cared much about them. She hardly recognized any of the names that fell from the boys' lips as they talked.

She hardly reacted when Fubuki quietly laced their fingers together for the millionth time the past week. He didn't say anything to her, however, too preoccupied with his conversation with Judai. She didn't mind it though, she couldn't find it in her to be able to engage in a conversation. The words that the text Ryo had sent her the day prior still flashed through her head, almost as if it had been imprinted on the inside of her eyelids.

Fubuki's voice right in her ear nearly made her jump; perhaps she might've had he not been holding her hand.

"What are you thinkin' about?"

"You seem to be asking me that lots lately, huh?" His quiet laughter followed her words, but he did not say anything; just a hum that prompted her to continue, "I'll tell you later."

Anything either might have said was promptly cut off by Judai's sudden mad dash across the courtyard. Saiya quickly figured Sho and Kenzan knew about as much as she and Fubuki did. They barely caught up with him when he skidded to a stop at the tree line.

She made her way over, standing next to him. Whatever had made him tear off like that was nowhere to be seen but the pensive look he wore told her that it likely wasn't far.

"What was that all about?" She asked as she struggled to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. There wasn't, or at least there wasn't anything she could see.

"I thought I saw someone."

Judai spent the rest of the day rather on edge, which only served to put the rest of the group on edge, too. It wasn't until later that night that they all started to see things too. Shadows that moved in the corner of their eyes, eyes that they only saw for a brief moment. All of them had opted to stay in Saiya's room that night, and she could not complain. She was acutely aware of the silence of all of their cards; an odd thing, seeing as they had always mindlessly chattered when their duelists were all together but tonight, they were completely silent.

"What is going on?" Judai muttered, eyeing the large window closely. It led out onto the balcony, which was situated over a small courtyard with a fountain and a few benches. The only living thing Saiya could spot from her spot on her desk chair was a raven, perched on the railing of the balcony, preening itself and largely ignoring the occupants in the nearby room.

"Ya think it's the Society of Light?"

They all fell silent again at Sho's suggestion. He seemed nervous, sitting on the ground against the bed furthest from the windows. Judai sat next to him, watching Kenzan pace the room. Fubuki had chosen to occupy her bed. Edo was the only one of their little ragtag team who was missing, but she wouldn't have put it past him to have chosen to not join them that night.

The silence was broken when her phone vibrated on her nightstand. Being the closest, Fubuki reached over to grab it. She almost objected but then decided against it; she trusted him enough to give him the passcode and trusted him enough to not try anything serious without her explicit permission.

"Who is it?" Saiya asked quietly, a yawn stifling her words but he seemed to understand what she meant enough.

"Edo. Said he's coming over, something about wanting to talk to you." He said, not so gracefully placing her phone back where it had been previously.

Judai stretched, looking like he was about to get up. He didn't, remaining right where he sat.

"Should we go?" It was a rhetorical question, that much was clear. They all knew that Judai at least had no intention of leaving. Neither did anyone else, it seemed.

"Nah, it'll be fine. I'm sure he wouldn't mind telling any of you either."

The next few minutes were spent in idle conversation. She brought up how eery it was that the duel spirits had been completely silent the entire night; Judai hadn't noticed at all but they chalked it up to his ability not being as in tune as hers was. They went on a tangent about him being able to tune it and she assured him that it was more gut feeling and intuition than an exact science. It wasn't like tuning a guitar so it wasn't as if she could provide him with proper instructions.

Somehow the conversation deviated to childhood memories but that didn't get very far before Edo made his way up onto the balcony. Saiya could admit to admiring his ability to accomplish that feat, they were at least on the third floor.

"What was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Judai had immediately asked as soon as Edo stepped inside.

An exhausted sigh later and at least three cans of energy drinks later, he had relayed that there were odd shadow creatures lurking around campus. That explained what they had been seeing all day. Edo himself wasn't entirely sure how they came to be but he knew they were able to duel and knew they were difficult enough to beat but no more difficult than anything they'd already faced.

"From what I've seen, they typically use the same deck as you. Which, you would think would be a little impossible, seeing as everyone builds their decks differently but . . ." He trailed off, though it was evident he didn't need to say anymore. It was enough.

"The tournament starts tomorrow. Dueling them probably won't give us anything in that regard but still. It could lead to something a lot more, probably better to deal with it now than later." She muttered, earning a general agreement from the others.

"Was that it?" Fubuki gave Edo a look as he asked. The pair were next to each other on the bed now, Fubuki had taken up a lot of the space laying down but Edo didn't seem to care very much.

"Mhmm," was the response. They fell into a nervous sort of silence for a total of about 2 minutes before Judai spoke up.

"So, Saiya, you never answered my question."

She nearly laughed at the thought of going right back to where they had been before Edo arrived. It felt very typical of Judai now, to circle a conversation around as if it didn't matter if they had another addition to the group now. She hummed, trying to recall the exact memory.

"Favourite childhood memory, huh?" She sat back, hands folded together in her lap. "Alright, lemme tell you about the time Ryo, Sho, and I got lost in the woods behind my house."

* * *

Saiya wasn't entirely sure when they had fallen asleep; that is to say, she wasn't sure when _she_ had fallen asleep.

She could only assume that she had fallen asleep first, as she was the first awaken the next morning and next to Edo, of all people.

Fubuki had taken to the chair and bent over to lay on her desk. It hardly looked comfortable but she couldn't have been surprised. She's found him sleeping in weirder places before. Judai and Sho were both asleep next to the bed, sat up with their backs against the bedframe, and leaned against each other. Saiya couldn't spot Kenzan from her spot so she could've only assumed he had fallen asleep on the floor at the foot of the bed.

It surprised her that she had been able to slip out of the room without waking any of them up. She knew at least three of the boys were relatively heavy sleepers but being able to slip past Edo and Sho was nothing short of a miracle, she thought. Saiya made sure to grab her deck before exiting the room, quietly closing the door behind her as she left.

The sun hung high overhead when she stepped outside. Samejima was likely already back and the announcement was set to be later that afternoon, so she had a few hours to kill.

Not that she had any plans; somehow she found herself down by the lighthouse again.

But it surprised her to see she was not the first one here. A familiar figure already occupied where the spot she had intended to be but she could hardly complain. He must've heard her walk up, the glance he threw her way was enough to tell her that.

"It's been a while, Ryo."

"We saw each other in a tournament recently, it hasn't been that long." He didn't miss a beat with his response. Saiya snorted as she made her way over to stand next to him.

"That hardly counts." Her gaze hadn't left him the whole time and he was notoriously difficult to read now. Not that he wasn't beforehand but even then, she could at least get a vague feeling as to what he was thinking at any given time. "Anyway, what was that text about?"

He seemed to know exactly what she was referring to without explicitly saying it. Saiya had been ready to expect anything, but she couldn't hide the confused look on her face as he didn't say a word; instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out four cards, handing all of them to her. They were all Lightsworn cards; they were familiar to her in that she's seen them all before, just never in card form. Felis the Lightsworn Archer, her card art pictured her midleap with a bow in hand, ready to shoot someone. The other was Michael, pictured armored in all gold alongside Judgement Dragon. Raiden had both his blades ready in his card art while Minerva was pictured with her owl.

They were all card types she had never seen before.

"You'll need them." Was all he said before turning to stalk off. Grabbing his arm with her free hand, she met his gaze with a glare she knew wouldn't faze him.

"You're not gonna tell me anything else?" A moment passed between them, lasting mere seconds but it felt like it lasted hours.

"I will. Just not now. Not here."

And with that, he left.

* * *

"He didn't tell you anything? Like not even where he got the cards or how to play them? Or where he's been the entire time and-"

She sat with Edo and Fubuki in the auditorium, waiting on Samejima to make the announcement for the tournament. Technically speaking, she and Edo didn't need to be here but seeing as she needed to tell them both about what had happened, they had all agreed to come. It was the most convenient place and time, after all. The four cards were now in her deck, alongside the rest of the Lightsworn.

Saiya shushed him, which was effective; he stopped talking immediately.

"He didn't tell me anything, just that he couldn't tell me then and there."

Judai, Kenzan, and Sho sat down near the front. She made a mental note to catch them up after the fact.

"Well, you're smart. I'm sure you can figure out how to play them with or without his help." Edo's words only elicited a quiet sigh in response. The three knew he was right, she could figure it out herself. She had always found that the best way she learned anything was by doing it.

"You still need to talk to him, though." Fubuki remarked, uncharacteristically quiet and somber. Saiya shrugged, eyes darting around the room in front of her. The three of them sat at the very back, which gave them a full view of the room. There were a lot of people here and ultimately, she recognized very few of them. Ryo was not here, though she could hardly be shocked at the fact. Asuka, Majome, and Daichi sat closer to the front of the room, closer to where she spotted Saiou sitting.

Samejima walked in, with Chronos and Napoleon in tow. The chatter quieted and the tournament was announced.

In her peripheral vision, she spotted a shadow in the corner of the room move; much too alive to be any shadow at all. The room grew colder but she wasn't entirely sure if anyone else noticed the fact. She shivered, watching it sink back into the pool of darkness it had come from.

No one else seemed to have noticed it.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**hahahaha so I, uh, decided to incorporate synchros. It was kind of an impulsive decision honestly. Kind of. It won't be the first time I do in this fic but it'll be the only time I do it during the canon storyline. We're just a lil over halfway through s2 and if this seems like I'm trying to push to rush it through, I am.**

**I really just wanna get to writing s3, that's where all the _fun_ happens, if ya know what I mean.**

**So no more synchros until AT LEAST the end of s3 (mostly bc I have never actually watched s4 all the way through but it's okay really).**


End file.
